Drive shower for high x dimension
 

Hey guys just considering a drive shower for my Bravo XR. Most seem to get the water from above the prop. Mine run as almost surface drives so I would assume I would be getting no water when it is most needed. Has anyone ran the pickup off the transom or have any other ideas? Just seems like a waste on a lot of these newer boats with high x dimensions.

I’ve seen folks put pickups
In K planes and plumb as needed

Does the engine get its cooling water through the drive? I have drilled and tapped the side of the drive through the water passage and plumbed it to a drive shower top cap on boats that have a thru hull pickup for the engines

Thanks guys I have my intake in the drive which is a little sketchy. My x is extremely high. I was thinking if I did one to put it on the transom but I would hate to drill holes

where is the prop shaft in reference to the bottom of the hull

my drives are really high, I have relief valves on my strainers that one of these days I will plumb to through hull fittings to dump on the drives. I took the drive showers off because someone running behind me said they could see the cav plates way out of the water at cruise
my propshaft is 1” above the bottom.

Don’t most drive showers rely on the rotation to the prop to push water up the shower tube? The drive shower pickup is not like a thru hull pickup relying on the water itself to force it in while moving.

Just got down to measure. It’s about 2” below in a staggered installation. I know they had to raise the hatch to get them to fit. It is a 36 Pantera. Only one with a staggered set up

notched at the transom or no, let me know when it for sale ......:drink:...Im running 2.5 inch below with no issues

Yes, That is the working theory. FYI I have a high X on my cat and ran the Halo style Simrek drive showers with extended dual pick ups and they preformed great! The Prop forced water into both pick ups on each shower.

I think the prop may help, but I'd envision the shower pickup in the water flow is doing most of the work.

Your anti-ventilation plates out of the water at speed? If so by how much?
If a Bravo drive is surfacing at speed and the top 50%, 40%, or even 30% of the prop is out of water. I don't envision the prop pushing any water into the shower.
I'd have to see a video to prove that the prop is indeed pushing water up the shower in that situation.

My boat is a notched transom. Boat runs great. Takes a sec to learn how to feather the throttles to get it on plane but it’s a quick learn. I just was wondering if the showers would get enough water. I just can’t see how it can. Currently running a 5 blade because of the prop being partially out of the water so I don’t know how those pick ups would suck up water. But hell what do I know

Look at how much water a surfacing or semi-surfacing drive throws, ie rooster tail. That’s just the water that makes it past the splash plate, which is directly above the prop where the drive shower pickup is located.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f427e230d.jpeg
I don’t have any go-pro footage, but I’m pretty sure my rooster tail starts behind the cavitation plate

Guess we have ourselves a science project!! 😆📐✏️📚

I said I have a high X, never implied that my drives are surfacing, No go pro footage to investigate. notched transom, my guess is the Cav plate is right at the point of surfacing. I will look to see if I have any shots from the Helos from past poker runs that might shed some light on depth. Will post if I see any that will show what we need.

A few weld bungs and a thru-hull.

Engine water with a pickup, and then use the drive pickup for the shower, this way you will get water circulating thru the drive.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1263c8f902.jpg

Cool setup and I bet it keeps the drive nice and cool. Curious, do you have a pressure relief anywhere in the line or is it all just forced through that line?

I know you didn't, but you did say the prop forced water into the shower.

I know there are variations of drive showers.
But speaking of Simrek.
Go to 3:50 in video below. The pickups are pointing forward and way ahead of the aft tips of the prop.
I'm not saying there is no way. But I'm not believing that any water is being forced into that shower by the prop!
Aside from the Simrek. I think they still need to be in the flow of water to be force fed by that. Not the prop.

My thru-hull water pickup does not have a pressure relief valve yet, closed cooling so the water only goes thru the exchanger and exhaust.

but I'm adding a sea strainer when I switch engine.

For the drive it's an AN-10 hose thru hull with open flow, so no relief there either.

That type of pickup, on a bravo 3 with the cav plate at or below the surface that’s not coming close to surfacing, yes definitely using the the flow of water to force it up. But all those imco or sportmaster lowers with a drive shower? Why even bother with a sportmaster lower if it’s that deep in the water?


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...ef5816554.jpeg

A quick phone call to the manufacturer would probably solve all of this too

Someone needs to tie their boat off so it won't move and peg the throttles.
And film if the drive shower is spraying. :whistle:

I know you didn't, but you did say the prop forced water into the shower. "Quote"

Yea/No mine were completely different design then those in the video. Mine went thru the cav plate as far back as possible and all four pick ups where 2 inches straight down with the holes facing the prop. trust me they had more then enough water from the prop. keep in mind the pick ups were 2 inches below the cav plate.
I assume each hull and depth of drive will vary but in this case it was great.

Because they are just raising the prop shaft, not the plate. They want to raise the X. Drive shower is an afterthought.

If I do and they don't say what you want to hear. Will you then say that's only pertaining to the brand I called?

Lol. I say whatever you want cheech. I couldn’t care less. I just found it surprising that some actually think the cav plate on these hi performance boats are below the water line.

Oh I don't think they are below. Depends on the situation as to how much they are out, probably most only slightly.

But just like the OP and the reason for this thread. I'm of the mindset that the drive shower isn't being fed in some situations. Not even by the prop.

I don’t know how a prop spinning at say 3300rpm (motor at 4950rpm for example), or 55 revs per second, that’s less than an inch away, isn’t forcing a lot of water up the drive shower pickup.

Sent you a PM

I put a tee in the pressure line coming out of the sea pump. Then i ran a 1/4" line to the drive shower. Supplies plenty of water.

TBC. Great idea. No doubt that works and gives you pressure at all times. Especially at higher rpm when most needed. May look into that idea. Thanks for the idea

if you have an empty port / plug on the intake manifold you can run a -6 to a bulk head connector at the transom then on to the top cap

That’s a great and easy way. Like the ideas keep ‘em coming!

Here is the go pro you need for the cav plate pickup. As soon as it is trimmed up, the water stops. This is notched transom and 1-5/16" below bottom. I am planning to route the relief valve that is before the oil cooler to the drive shower. It starts releasing about the same time the drive is no longer picking up.

My set up on my Pantera. Engine picked up water from thru hull fitting. Drive also had another dump another thru hull dump for excess water.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...02dbfb89bd.jpg

Video was great and seems to back up my initial thoughts. Thanks for the video

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...44870cb1e2.jpg Looking for one of these anyone have one for a Bravo XR ?

What's your upper drive case temperature? Just get an infrared gun for less than $50 and go shoot the top cap. You'll find you probably don't even need a shower.